Curse of Night

by Emily Goodwin

  Blood pours from the wound, filling half the vial before the wound heals. Lucas bites himself again, letting more blood drip into the vial before capping it and giving it to Felix.

  Naomi links her arm through mine. “You should sit,” she says, taking me to the porch steps. I sink down, head spinning. Usually, using that much power takes a lot out of me, yet right now I don’t feel drained of power.

  If anything, I feel power coursing through my veins.

  “You conjured fire,” she whispers, and I know the real reason she brought me over here was to question me. “That was no spell.”

  “I know. I, um, I think it was hellfire.”

  “Hellfire?” Her brows go up, and her lips part. A fleeting moment of panic crosses her face, and then she smiles. “Well, it worked.”

  I look at Lucas, and my heart swells in my chest. He’s back to himself. Strong. Fierce. The vampire I fell in love with, who I can be myself around.

  Using the hellfire worked…but will there be a cost?

  Chapter 16

  “I’m sure Callie is tired,” Evander says, lowering his hands after putting a warding on the house. “We should go and let her rest.” His eyes meet mine, and I give him a tiny nod of thanks, leaning back in the kitchen chair. We just came inside and are gathered around my small kitchen table. It’s only a matter of time before Felix questions what kind of spell I used to summon red fire.

  And that is not a conversation I want to have tonight. Or ever. Though I have a sinking feeling my true identity is going to come out sooner or later. With my luck, it’ll be sooner.

  “I’m exhausted, too.” Nicole rests her elbows on the table. “But I’m all jittery.”

  “This will help.” Naomi turns down the burner on the tea kettle right before it starts to whistle.

  “Does it taste better than the cleansing tea?” Nicole grumbles, wrinkling her nose.

  “It’s probably worse. But you can add sugar to this.”

  “Good.” Nicole pushes herself up and gets teacups for everyone. My set is antique, and I bought it at the local antique store in downtown Thorne Hill. Like Books of Shadows, tea sets are passed down through generations. The cups are decent enough, and all have matching saucers. The teapot itself doesn’t match but coordinates enough with the floral pattern on the cups and saucers that it works.

  Maybe someday I’ll get a fancy all-matching set…though it’s not like I’ll have anyone to pass it down to.

  “Thank you again,” I say, eyes closing in a long blink. I’m still buzzed from the spell, but my mind is having a hard time wrapping around anything.

  The spell worked.

  Lucas is okay.

  I’m afraid I’m going to wake up next to a pile of ash and blood.

  But it’s real, and all I have to do to remind myself of it is remember how Felix most likely is going to accuse me of Satanism, too.

  “Stop thanking us, sister,” Evander presses, resting his hand on my shoulder. “Or else you’ll give me a complex.”

  “Like you don’t have one already,” Felix chuckles.

  “Is Kristy going to be mad she missed the fun?” Naomi pours the hot water into the teapot and brings it over to the table to steep.

  “She’ll probably feel bad she wasn’t here to help.” Yawning, I look up at my friends. “But I know she’ll be happy she missed me slicing open a deer’s belly and slowly watching it bleed to death,” I say with a shrug.

  Nicole laughs. “Good point.” She holds her hand over the teapot, feeling the energy coming off the invoked herbs. “Are you sure you’ll be fine tonight?”

  Lucas, who’s sitting next to me at the table, slips his arm around my waist. “Callie will be in good hands tonight. Specifically, my hands.”

  “Ugh,” Eliza huffs. “Should I leave now so I don’t have to listen to you two fucking all night again?”

  Lucas trains his blue eyes on her. “Do what you want.”

  Eliza’s full lips push into a pout. We both know she’s not leaving Lucas tonight. Like me, she needs reassurance the curse is actually broken. “Do that magical soundproofing and I’ll tough it out.”

  “I can do that, actually,” I tell her. “Just, uh, remind me.” I rub my forehead.

  “Do you want me to make you something for a headache?” Naomi offers.

  “No, but thanks. I don’t have a headache. More like head rush.” I blink a few times and lean against Lucas. I need to ground myself and get rid of some of this extra energy…though at the same time, I like it.

  “It’s common when working spells of this caliber,” Evander says as he opens the fridge, looking for something to eat.

  “Can I take the squirrel?” Felix asks. “I’d like to observe it until the curse finishes its course.”

  “Please do,” I tell him. “And thank you again.”

  He grins. “I’m going to agree with Evander here and tell you to stop thanking me. I’m glad I had the opportunity to put my years of research and work to the test…and then to have it work. It’s incredible. We have to discuss this in detail. Tomorrow, of course. I need to break everything down in detail so we’ll know how to replicate it again.”

  My eyes meet Evander’s for just half a second. “How’s that tea coming?” he asks quickly, shutting the fridge. “It should be ready now.”

  “Just about,” Nicole says, sensing our discomfort. A hush falls over the room, and an awkward minute of silence ticks by. And then Scarlet comes running, crashing into the wall and tripping over her water bowl, spilling it everywhere.

  Lucas gets up, speeding to the cabinet to get a towel to clean up the mess.

  “Come here,” I tell the puppy. Scarlet’s whole body wiggles from the force of her wagging tail. I pick her up, leaning back so she can’t lick my face.

  “We had a Golden Retriever when I was a kid.” Felix extends his hand for Scarlet to sniff. “They’re nice dogs.”

  “Yeah,” I agree. “They are.”

  “How old is she?”

  “Uh,” I start. I’m not much of a dog person. I think Scarlet looks maybe two months old, but does she act like it? She’s a century-old hellhound glamoured to look like a fluffy puppy. “I’m not sure when her birthday is.” It’s not a lie.

  “She looks maybe eight weeks old.” Felix scratches under Scarlet’s chin. She stills, not quite sure of him yet. Only two seconds later, she’s squirming to get out of my arms and crawls to Felix. He laughs as she licks his face. Just don’t sense that she’s anything other than a cute puppy, please.

  “Put the puppy down,” Naomi says, as if she can read my thoughts. “The tea is done.”

  Felix gives Scarlet one more cuddle, and the puppy runs around, trying to get attention from anyone else. Lucas picks her up and lets her gush all over him, just to prove a point that the dog likes him better than she likes Felix.

  We all sip the tea, and my head isn’t quite so fuzzy after. Evander does a good job getting Felix to leave without more questioning, and only a few minutes later, the house is quiet again.

  Lucas’s arms wrap around my waist as soon as the door is closed and magically locked. He presses his lips to my neck.

  “I’m taking you to bed, my love.”

  I spin around in his arms, and he picks me up as if I weigh nothing and zooms upstairs, closing the door behind us.

  “Holy shit,” I pant, ears still ringing. “I can’t feel my feet.”

  “I’m good,” Lucas growls, slipping his hand between my thighs and raking his fingers up my legs to my still-wet core. A shiver of pleasure makes its way through me when his fingers sweep over my clit. I open my mouth to protest, but no words come out. He carefully strums his fingers over me, knowing damn well that I’m already wound up, body still quivering from the last orgasm he gave me.

  “Lucas,” I pant, trying to push his hand away. There’s a good chance another orgasm will put me in a coma. “I…I…ohhh…dammit, Lucas,” I moan as I feel pleasure winding inside of me. M
y entire body shudders as I come, and I’m not entirely sure I didn’t leave my body. My pussy spams around his fingers, and if the house caught on fire, I would happily succumb to the flames.

  Lucas moves back up, spooning himself around me as my body reels from the intense burst of pleasure.

  “What was that, number six or seven?”

  “I…I…” I can’t form a coherent sentence to save my life, and Lucas laughs at my inability to use words.

  “Yes, my love?”

  I just shake my head and let my eyes fall shut. Lucas nuzzles his head against my neck, kissing me. I’m in a half-awake, half-passed-out state, and if I didn’t have to pee, I could easily drift off to sleep.

  “You didn’t eat,” I mumble, trying to get my legs to work so I can wrap them around Lucas.

  “I ate plenty.”

  “I mean my blood,” I say back with a smile.

  “I’m not hungry.” He lifts his head and looks me in the eye so I know he’s not bullshitting me. “And if I was, I’d give you another day or so before I drank from you. I’ve taken a lot, and you need time to recover. I know that spell took a lot from you as well.” He moves to the side and pulls the electric blanket over both of us. It’s on high and feels so good covering our naked bodies.

  “Which we need to talk about,” he adds, running his fingers through my hair.

  “Can we in the morning?” I roll over, telling myself I’m going to get up and go to the bathroom in one minute so I can go to sleep.

  “Yes.” He kisses me softly, and I don’t want to move.

  With a groan, I tell myself it’s now or never. “I have to pee,” I sigh. “I’ll be right back.”

  “Needy human,” he teases and slaps my ass as I get out of bed. I rub my face as I lazily leave the bedroom. I don’t think about it as I open our bedroom door and walk—stark naked—into the hall.

  “Now I see why Lucas can’t keep his hands off you,” Eliza quips, coming up the stairs with Scarlet in her arms. “That’s a great set of tits.”

  “Ugh,” I groan and realize that it’s too late to try to cover up. She looks me up and down and goes into the guest room. Letting out a heavy sigh, I go into the bathroom. I brush my teeth before going back to bed and fall down onto the mattress, snuggling up next to Lucas.

  “I accidentally gave Eliza a show,” I mumble, tucking the blankets around the both of us. “She likes my boobs at least.”

  “They are great,” he agrees and kisses the back of my neck. His hand slides over my stomach, inching it down to my core. “I missed this.”

  “It’s only been like a day,” I remind him.

  “It was a long day.”

  “You can say that again,” I agree. “And you know a time will come that I might not be in the mood for sex every single day.”

  “Don’t say such terrible things.”

  I laugh and reach down, grabbing his hand and resting it over my chest so he can feel my heart beating. “I love you.”

  “And I love you, Callie,” he breathes. Then I close my eyes and fall asleep.

  “Good morning, my love.”

  My eyes flutter open, vision focusing on Lucas sitting up in bed next to me. He’s reading again, and it looks like he finished the romance novel he’d started the other day. I need to bring home some books from the store that are more his taste, though he doesn’t seem to mind reading about billionaire bosses and their virgin assistants.

  “What time is it?”

  “Almost one.”

  “I slept in late.” I slowly sit up and run my hands over my face.

  “You needed it.” He puts the book down and kisses my forehead. “What do you want for breakfast?”

  “Coffee.”

  He raises an eyebrow. “And?”

  “Hash browns and bacon over scrambled eggs. I don’t have hash browns, though.” I sit up and reach for the water bottle on the nightstand. I down half of it and push the electric blanket off me, having gotten hot in my sleep. “We really should buy Suzy’s Café just for the food.”

  “It’s not too late to put in an offer. Though are you sure that’s a good idea?”

  I make a face, thinking back to our last conversation about it, and I hate that it’s even an issue. Lucas is a vampire, and while there are two young vamps living in Thorne Hill, our town isn’t the most welcoming to vampires.

  And a member of my coven—my former coven—works at Suzy’s. I don’t want Jerry to quit the job he’s had for years because the coven would demand he not work for a vampire.

  “Once the paperwork is officially filed with the Grand Coven, we’ll come back to it.”

  “Okay,” he tells me. “And I have another property I’m interested in and one I’ve been considering selling for the last twenty or so years.”

  “Where and where?”

  “Anaheim and Miami.”

  “Complete opposite sides of the country,” I say with a smile and get out of bed, going to my over-filled dresser. I pull out socks, underwear, and black leggings. “What do you own in Miami you want to sell?”

  “A condo building with waterfront views. I’ve been waiting for the value to go up before I sold it. It did, and I got an offer over the listing price.”

  “What is the listing price?” I go to my closet, which is stuffed to the brim with my stuff and Lucas’s, and look through my stack of folded black sweaters. It’s cloudy and chilly today, and I plan on doing nothing but snuggle with Lucas on the couch while stuffing my face with all the carbs I can find.

  “Fifteen million.”

  “What?”

  “Fifteen million.” He pulls up the listing on his phone and shows it to me. It’s a twelve-story condo building that went through a full renovation three years ago. It’s gorgeous and is making me want to move to Florida.

  “Wow.” I blink a few times, shake myself, and give him the phone back. “And what’s in Anaheim?”

  He brings up another listing for a dumpy motel. “I plan to demo it and sit on the property. Fifty years from now, it will be worth much, much more.”

  “Another perk of being undead.” I shake my head. “When did you have time to do all this real estate business? You were literally dying only hours ago.”

  “When you were sleeping,” he says like it’s not big deal at all.

  I set my clothes on the foot of the bed and root around a pile of clean laundry to look for a robe. “Do you have to go there to buy and sell everything?”

  “Yes, to sign the paperwork, and I want you to come with.” He speeds forward and wraps his arms around me, pulling me back into bed. “Let’s go on another vacation. Disneyland is in Anaheim, you know.”

  “We have plans to go to Disney World next month.”

  “You wouldn’t want to go to both?”

  I smile. “Of course I would. It’s just…a little excessive,” I say and then hate myself for trying to talk Lucas out of taking me to Disneyland. What the hell is wrong with me?

  He inhales, brows furrowing, and kisses me passionately. “You just said it, Callie…I was dying last night.” The emotion that he hid from us all the last few days comes crashing down, and he flips us over, holding me tight against his chest. “I wasn’t afraid of dying, per se, but all I could think about was leaving you and how much that would hurt. Even after I was gone, it would still hurt. And you…you…” He cuts off and kisses me again. “We have some time before the necromancers figure out the spell didn’t work like they planned. I want to enjoy that time with you, because life—even mine—can be taken in the blink of an eye.”

  I blink away tears and nod, realizing for the first time that this whole ordeal was so much more than physically painful to Lucas. He hasn’t faced the idea of death, of slowly dying and leaving behind loved ones, in over a thousand years.

  “Okay,” I tell him. “Let’s go then. Can we take like a day or two at home first to just chill?”

  “Does that include fucking?”

  “I suppos
e it could. I mean…if you’re able to convince me.”

  Lucas kisses me again, not needing words to tell me convincing me won’t be an issue. My phone rings, and Lucas sits up to get it.

  “It’s Kristy.” He hands it to me, rolling over but not completely off me.

  “Hello?” I answer. I texted her and my sister late last night, letting them know Lucas was okay, but didn’t give any details. I was too worn.

  “Hey. How are you feeling? I just talked to Evander.”

  “I’m good,” I tell her. “I just woke up.”

  “And Lucas is still okay?”

  “He’s perfect.” I smile at my husband.

  “Gross,” Kristy laughs. “But good. I’m so relieved.”

  “Me, too. Are you working tonight? I’m supposed to meet up with everyone from last night to go over everything.” I let my eyes fall shut, mind racing with a lie to tell Felix, and come up empty. Hopefully, Evander will have thought of something by tonight.

  “I’m at work now but get off at three.”

  “Perfect.”

  “Want me to bring anything?” she asks.

  “No, but thanks. I’ll see you tonight, then. Everyone is coming around seven.” We say bye, and I hang up, seeing that I have a dozen texts from Abby.

  “Would Kristy want to go to Disneyland with you?” Lucas asks as I reluctantly sit up. I’m starving and need to take a shower. “You could go out together during the day.”

  “That would be so much fun!” I can’t help but smile. “You wouldn’t mind her coming?”

  “Not at all.” He runs his hand up and down my thigh. “If it makes you happy, it makes me happy. And I’m more than aware I’m limited to the night, Callie. Go out and enjoy the sun.”

  “I love you,” I whisper, kissing him once more.

  “I know.” He gives me a wink and gets up, grabbing a pair of athletic pants and stepping into them. “Take a shower and I’ll make you breakfast.”

  Not wanting to give Eliza another free show, I put my robe on and go into the bathroom. I brush through my messy hair and turn on the shower, giving the water time to heat up.